The Reason For Immigration And Potential Avenues To Stymie The Flood

Thousands of Central American unaccompanied immigrant children have been flooding into the U.S. border.

Alex Nowrasteh, Immigration Policy Analyst at Cato, explains why this is happening and the current situation at the three Central American countries where they're coming from.

Nowrasteh says that the majority of immigrants are coming from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. The influx is due to the terrible crime and murder rates in their countries. Some also have existing family ties to legal citizens of the United States.

The change in American laws has created a misconception for these Central Americans. They believe they'll be allowed to stay.

Nowrasteh makes a point to explain that they aren't coming from other Central American countries like Nicaragua, which is poorer than its previously mentioned neighbors. It has an open border policy with those three countries, and has been largely left out of the drug war that's going on. The peace has created enough comfort for Nicaraguans throughout their country so they don't feel in danger. The lack of family ties to the United States, a current legal immigrant count of roughly a quarter of a million, prevents more immigrants from coming.

So what can the President do?

He's asking for four billion dollars to help with processing new immigrants. There also isn't a lot of money involved in securing the border within the budget request.

Alex Nowrasteh suggests that the President tries as much as possible to reallocate bureaucrats and immigration services to these areas to get illegal kids out as quickly as possible. Internal resources could be shuffled around and focused in the Human Resources Department to get the kids with their legal guardians faster. Or, in a drastic move, the President could also mobilize the National Guard to put more troops on the border.